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[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya cursed as she entered the bar, and barely resisted the urge to kick a chair as she stalked up to the bar. Frelling mechanic! She'd just had the Wing of the Raven refitted with new shields on Nar Shadda.

That mech wouldn't know a shield generator if it jumped up and bit him on the ass. Arya walked to the end of the bar and sat on a stool, gesturing to the bartender. "Guinness." She drummed her fingers on the bar, and fumed.

Her shields had gone out, and the hull had been perforated by a micro asteroid about two klicks from Yavin. She clenched her hands around the tankard the bartended shoved at her, and then tipped it back. She'd be stuck on this moon for several days until the damage was fixed. Frell, all the good stuff happens to me.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

:: The General was seated at his usual place, when he saw the young woman walk in and order a drink he regarded as being nothing short of bottled mud. He was about to return to the report he was reading when it clicked who she was.

Her?!? Bloody hell, what was SHE doing out here?::

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya drained her drink, and pushed it over for a refill. She let her eyes roam the bar area, but saw nothing out of the ordinary... at least not for a bar. The bartender handed her refilled drink back to her, and she left the credits on the counter as she walked towards the back of the room. The only place she could relax was in a back corner, with a plain view of the whole place.

Arya set her drink down in front of her on the table, and ran her fingers through her black hair. The stress is going to kill me, Aaron was right. She grinned at a memory, and then frowned, and lifted her drink to her lips -

-and froze. Across the room, in the opposite corner was a face she knew. Frell, frell, frell! What was HE doing here? He wasn't looking at her, but she slouched a little, and then had to resist the urge to pound her head on the table. Perfect. Just perfect.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

:: He watched her out of the side of his eyes, watched her sit down and then drink. He kept one hand on the rail gun as he tracked her. She didn't seem to have seen him yet....

A reaction from her. Not much, but enough. She had seen him. He kept his head turned away. Well, now this was going to be interestiong... the last time he had seen Ravenwing as Tohmahawk, she was bleeding on the floor of her ship after he had smashed her head into the wall.

One thing he didnt want right now was for her to run. She didnt know who his other id was and in all honesty, he didnt want her finding out. Tohmahawk had never intened to allow her to see him again.

But here she was, right in the bar. Damn.

He called over to the bartender.

"Send a message to the woman who you just served. Ask her to come over to this table please"

This would be interesting::

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked up as the bartender approached her. "Look, I gave you enough, and I'm not needing more ale just yet-"

"Just a message, miss." He told her that the man across the way wanted her to come to his table. If it had been any other man, she'd have ignored the message. Males were always trying to pick up on her in bars, but that was their problem. However, since the last time she'd seen this one he'd shot up her ship and nearly pulled her spine loose, she couldn't very well refuse.

Well, I could. She thanked the bartender, and he returned to the bar across the room. Arya looked at her reflection in her cup, deliberately not looking at the NR military prick. Good times. She wasn't a coward, however, so she rose to her feet and sauntered over to his table.

Arya didn't sit down. "Wanting to pay for damages?"

[Captain Tohmahawk]

:: He watched her come over, smirked at her opening sally.

"Sore are we? I would have thought Smokey did a good job putting that piece of crap you call a ship back together. Did you have a warranty recall in mind?"

His smile had about the humour in it of a out of control bantha. "Sit down" When she didnt move, his voice tone changed ever so slightly, modulationg it and directing.

"I said ...sit"

The words themselves seemed to be alive, the order twisting and hammering at her.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She sat. She hadn't planned on sitting, wasn't going to, and was about to walk away, but that didn't change the fact that she was now sitting across from the man. Arya glared at him, her mind's eye searching for the closest exit. Door. Without turning her head, Arya knew there was a door to the 'freshers, probably with windows or ventilation shafts, behind and to her right.

"Warranty recall...cute." She deliberately sipped her drink which had managed to make it across the room with her.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

:: He leaned back, placing a hand under his chn as he observed her. Pretty, haughty and firey. Rather a combination some men would die for. His eyes flicked to where the troops of the NRSF had picked up the body language signal and were now moving casually to new positions next to exits.

She didnt fail to notice, turning to look, then bringing her gaze back, a gaze that could have set fire to a stone.

"Dont worry.... your not going anywhere right now. Not until I am finished wtih you. Nice work getting hyour face repaired, i would have sworn it would have been crooked after being smashed into the floor. I congratulate your medic"::

[Arya Ravenwing]

If she'd been in a good mood to start with, that would be one thing. However, Arya was ready to spit tacks at the man sitting across from her. She kept her facial expression as neutral as she could, but her eyes shone with anger. Blocking the exits. Frell, she could run through one of those skinny millitary types. Not that she was going to try...at least, not yet.

"Look, I don't know what your game is, but the New Republic and I have no business together. Frell, you didn't even have anything to hold me on before, which is why you took an insane pleasure in beating me senseless." She made herself take another drink. "What do you want with me now? Want to go at it again?"

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Ooooh, touchy she was. That was okay, Tohmahawk was in no real mood to mix plesantries either.

"Didnt have anything to hold you? Oh yes, that's right you dumped your spice load into vacuum. Your nothing more than a pathetic lowlife glim smuggler and you deserve every hit. I suppose you hold yourself with the high moral ground now?

It just puzzles me how Hunter can speak of your antics on Arcan IV quite highly, when your just scum"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She set her drink down on the table, a little roughly, and sat up straighter. Scum!? Arya didn't even try to bite back her words. "High moral ground? Hardly. You may consider me scum, and maybe I am to such an in-bred bastard as you obviously are. I think you're a prick. And I don't care what Hunter says." Then it clicked. Arcan IV? What the frell did he know about that?

[Captain Tohmahawk]

"Yes indeed, I am a prick and I'm good at it. I even get paid for it. Now Maybe if your were a better piece of @#%$, you wouldnt get caught by inept customs, not muct better than glit biters and trash like you."

Tohmahawk had a knife out and it began to spin and twist in his hand for a few seconds, seeming to defy gravity, before being delicatly balanced on a fingertip and dropped to land point down on the table. It was like he was figiting. The other hand took hold of the handle.

"I would be concerned with what Hunter said... he seemed to like you"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She stared at the hand holding the knife for a moment, and then brought her molten stare back to his eyes. "If I was smuggling through customs, you can bet that sorry excuse of an ass that I wouldn't get caught. And I hate spice." Hunter liked her? Ah, frell.

"As for Hunter, I do my job, nothing more, and not a credit less."

[Captain Tohmahawk]

"Funny, you got caught by customs and you were smuggling spice. That means you would have lost that bet"

Tohmahawk's eyes bored into hers

"Explain that. If you hate spice, why did you try to get it past a customs vessel. Hunter might think your good but I think your nothing more than bantha dung. "

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya chewed at the inside of her cheek, the taste of iron on her tongue. "I don't have to explain anything to you." She grabbed her drink, and made as if to leave the booth.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Tohmahawk glanced up as a movement cuaght his eye and he swore to himself

He moved explosively fast, grabbing her wrist as he stretched over the table.

"I have not given you permission to leave. Now if you want to leave here alive, do exactly as I say.... because your in a lot more danger than you realise. Has Hunter contacted you after Arcan IV?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She felt his hand on her, and for a split second she caught a flash from her mind's eye...and it was full of pain. Arya winced, and pushed back onto the bench seat. "Let me think about that... no, he hasn't. And I don't see why he should, there is no reason to."

Arya yanked her wrist away from his vice-like grip, and tried not to scowl like a child. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but then, you know that. Why was he intent on talking to her? It didn't make sense, but perhaps he was going to enlighten her.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Tohmahawk's other hand ducked below the table, then came up with one of his Rail guns, the metal shining dully. He seemed to aim right at Arya's head and then fired. The thunderclap of noise of the projectile nearly blew out her eardrums as the bullet screamed past her ear.

Behind her, a Gand was getting up and pulling out a concealed blaster, when the bullet struck it's helmet, shattering it. The explosive tip detonated, blowing the Gand apart in a storm of blood and flesh, pieces raining everywhere. Silence filled the bar as Tohmahawk stood and reholsred, now ignoring the woman and walking over to where basically there was a set of smoking boots. He glanced down as the NRSF soldiers began the cleanup, regarding the dead being, or what was left. He signalled for the soldiers to scrape the remains into a bag and feed one of the Cizerack. No doubt they would like the fresh meat.

He came back to the table where Arya still sat, a look that Tohmahawk couldnt quite work out on her face.

[Arya Ravenwing]

The woman felt like her stomach was in her boots, and her heart was slowly climbing back into her chest. Arya could smell the metal from the projectile that had barely missed her left ear. As the man got to his feet to check out the corpse behind her, Arya lifted her hand and touched her ear. When she looked at her fingers, there was blood on them. Her hands weren't shaking...not quite...

She clasped them together under the table as he sat back down across from her. Her voice was a little louder than a whisper. "Who are you?"

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Before he could answer, one of the sodliers came up and handed the ID they had found on the now splattered alien. Tohmahawk nodded, dismising the trooper, before looking the datatag over.

"Who am I? Just another alien in this Galaxy. Who do you think I am? Well..... looks like I've met this Gand before. Stupid ass."

He placed the id on the table, before his brown eyes bored into Arya's

"You in a lot of danger Ravenwing. And I think you know why"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya raised an eyebrow. "Other than the fact that you are sitting across from me, nothing comes to mind." Her eyes flicked down to his hands, and then back to his face. Her mind's eye kept flashing, but the scenes were too swift to be able to make heads or tails from them.

She blinked. It was a dangerous game she was playing with this man, and she knew it. But how else would she get to the bottom of whatever it was he was driving at? Not that she didn't have a good guess or two...but comfirmation was needed.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He noticed she was looking quickly at his hands. Abruptly, his mood completely changed and his entire manner. He seemed to slump into himself as he too looked at his hands. They were gloved in soft black leather, hiding what was beneath. A permanaent reminder.

He didnt dare look into her eyes, instead choosing to speak towards the ground.

"I'm sorry about our first meeting. I would have preferred we never crossed paths, but the Force sometimes has strange ways of working"

He looked away from her, into the distance out a window, where a rainstorm was beginning to lash the transparisteel, lost in his thoughts. Thinking of Arcan IV and what happened there.

[Arya Ravenwing]

She felt a momentary thrill as he averted his eyes. For once he showed a little soft underbelly, which, if she could exploit it, might get her out of here. "The Force? If you believe those frelling old wives tales. Smoke and mirrors." But, she knew her words were hollow and false. She'd seen too much now to not believe.

Yet, the bluster was hard to get rid of. "I believe in Fate. And I believe that I can choose my own fate, at least to a point." Arya clamped her hands around her drink. "I'm sorry about our first meeting too. I'm sorry I didn't kill you."

[Captain Tohmahawk]

She felt the coldness around her immediatly after she spoke. Like she had woken something a long way beyond her control. Next was the obvious wave of fury as Tohmahawk turned his head slowly, his eyes almost seeming to glow with fire.

"Apologies are few and far between from me... bitch. Now how about you @#%$ off back to the slimy -DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR--DO-NOT-SWEAR-hole you came from before I break your skinny neck. I'm starting to regret picking off that Gand that wanted you dead."

Why the hell did he even think she would be thankful? Save her life, apologise and for what?

"And here I was beginning to think you were something more" He got up, voice acidic enough to cut hull steel. "I was wrong. I expected more from royalty... Princess"

[Arya Ravenwing]

His words cut her, cut deeper than she thought was still possible. Who's the one with the soft belly now? Arya reached her hand to her breast, feeling for the cool circle of the medallion under her clothes. A surge of desperation welled inside of her.

"Please," she raised her left hand as if to take his arm, but wisely didn't touch him. "What do you know about that?" What was it mother used to say? Harsh words, worse regrets? "Please."

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He had been about to walk off, was planning to. But something in her voice made him turn. He had his hands behind his back as he stared down at her.

"I took the liberty of finding out about you after Hunter so clearly said you were more than lowlife. And after I saw what you did on Arcan IV.... I had to agree"

There was more he wanted to say, but there wasnt words for it. Memories of the last time they met flooded his mind and he really began to wonder if she had guessed yet. What would she say?

[Arya Ravenwing]

How. What had he found? She had searched and hacked and spent countless hours buried in code, trying to slice into her past... to no avail. Arya slumped back into her seat, and absently downed the last of her ale.

After Arcan IV, she just didn't know what to think anymore. The strange man she had met, he was honest and brave...someone even she could respect. When she thought about Hunter and Turbogeek, she only got a headache. But there was something there that nagged her, and demanded that she put her mind to it. She hadn't had a chance to fully process all that had happened yet. But that day would come. And soon.

Arya looked back at the man standing by the booth, his booth. "What do you know about me?" Too soon, Arya. She was letting him know that what he knew was precious to her, as precious as diamonds. But she couldn't help the question, it just flowed out on its own accord.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

“What do I know of you? I know your Araya Ravenwing and you father was a ruler before he was assassinated. Your mother ran and hid on Ryloth, where you were bought up safely anonymous, least someone else came after you, seeming you’re the rightful heir. There is also a footnote in NR files of a Ravenwing escaping and an… Aaron? Who was killed. Not a real lot more, though much can be worked out with just that”

Yes much more. But more could be told looking elsewhere. He slowly made his way back to his seat and sat down. He placed his hands in front of him, wincing from the pain that moving the fingers could bring. The gloves felt restrictive as he clenched a fist, feeling the spikes of pain shoot up his arm. How much more, he wasn’t sure she knew herself

<font color=red>

The flames of a burning building spread their smoke over the road where he sat. The place was bombed out and unrecognisable from the day before, before the hell had been unleashed in this place. Pieces of stone, wood and much worse littered the area, as well as the hazily seen person moving about, all of them heavily armed if you could make out details. Beside him, a blue skinned alien just unstoppering a bottle and they were both sharing a joke at what was for him one of the more remarkable days of his life. He accepted the bottle when he sensed a new person walk close. He looked up, seeing it was female. Begraggled and filthy, she looked terrible, but there was a big grin on her face.

“Why look, here’s the mysterious woman again. You look like much different from the last time I saw you” said Blue skin. The alien and him exchanged a look.

“Yeah, she looks like @#%$!”

“Still looks better than you!”. Both men burst out laughing.

She pouted. “Well, I’m glad were sharing such a great joke… Hey, what are you doing with that? That’s prime RuskyVodk’a!”

He began to our the alcohol over his hand, sucking in his breath as the pain exploded up his arm. “It also stops infection as well as killing brain cells”

“Hang on …” She set down a backpack, rummaged through it until she found what she wanted – a med pack. She took out a cream and looked over the back of his hands

“They look like you were fighting a grinder. Did you win?”

He didn’t reply to that, instead choosing only to smile. A smile that was probably the first genuine one in two years. “You did well out there today. What did you say your name was again?”

“Arya… Arya Ravenwing. And you?”

He told her. Blue skin looked expectant, as if it should have provoked a reaction.

“Sorry, never of you before. Should I have?”

His grin got bigger, as blue skin and him exchanged amused glances “How about you tell her”

Blue skin did so. Her eyes opened in surprise, before laughing herself. “I should have known!”
The three of them talked while she gave first aid to his hands. Eventually, they parted as dusk grew, she to whoknows where, Blue skin and him to…..

</font>

He caught himself using a thumb to massage the back of his left hand. He doubted his hands would ever heal properly, but he could hope. “Sometimes I wouldn’t mind knowing more of you. However, that wouldn’t be safe for either you or me”

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya sunk back into the booth. He had no new information for her. All that she knew, and a good deal more about her personal life. It was the life of her parents' that she was more interested in. Her third eye told her much, but it was difficult to make sense of the blurs and pieces it shared with her.

She spun her cup around. "I don't imagine that a closer relationship than this would be...prudent." Arya looked through her lashes at his gloved hands again, and then closed her eyes. "Are we done here?"

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He was putting his booted on the table, stetching his legs out as she spoke. And he was highly puzzled by what she said.

"Hmmm? Not any closer? I dont quite understand, I'm certainly not being forward, if that's what your thinking I'm doing"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Blue eyes opened under thick, black lashes. And the light dawned in the dark recesses of her mind. Pieces of the puzzle that had been mystifying fell into place, and Arya's mouth fell open. "Krasst!" Her cup fell over as her fingers spasmed, and then she hurried to right it.

Her eyes met his.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He didn't miss her reaction. And he honestly had no idea what to say or do. Apart....

"I think I know what you thought then. And your completely correct. Would you like another drink?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya looked at the bottom of her empty cup. "Please."

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He nodded, signalling a waiter over.

"another drink for the lady. And none of the usual, I want the under the bar supply. Understand?"

This was becoming more than a bit awkward. And Tohmahawk wasn't sure what to do next except just stare down at the table.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya accepted her drink, and drank while she thought. I wonder who else knows? Possibly no one. But he didn't seem to want to kill her anymore. Which wasn't the way she might have gone about this, in his boots.

She raised her blue eyes again. "I better go check on my ship." Arya didn't know what to do. The thought of selling information sprung to mind, but she dismissed it. Not the type you do that to. He could kill her out of hand, and he hadn't, and Arya had to respect that.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He looked up as she said she had to go.

"Stop.... one more thing. Would you accept a gift from me?"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya paused, her hands poised to push her out of the booth. "A gift?" She felt confused. "Uh..okay." He was acting stranger and stranger. It was hard to keep track of his mood shifts.

Like she had thought before, men, as a sex, were predictable. It was the unpredictable ones that really caught her attention. They were the most dangerous. But she was in no danger.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He nodded at her agreement, then make a gesture to one of his troops to come to him. A quiet convesation and the trooper ledt, to return a few minutes bearing a package. Tohmahawk nodded, then began to unwrap the bindings.

He revealed a carbine, 65 cm long, glistening black and a black holster. He could see her eyes go wide and eat up every detail of the unusal weapon.

"It's a new design. Over and under design. Over, there is a blasster with about the punch of a DL-48 carbine. Under is a rail gun, 45 shot, explosive projectile, with rapid fire, with twice the imact energy of my own hand gun. Hit your target with one of these projectiles, you'll leave a crater. Also effective against Jedi or Sith cause the projectiles move to fast to be blocked and they explode if they do hit a sabre blade"

He hefted the device, before thrusting it forward. "Here"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya's eyes widened as he explained the carbine, and took it into her hands as he handed it over. It was an amazing piece of equipment, and slightly heavy, but nothing she couldn't handle.

She ejected the magazine of the rail gun, and examined one of the hollowpoint rounds. "This is what you used on my ship, and in the hotel." Arya pushed the magazine back into the gun, and smiled as it clicked. "Impressive." She put it in the holster, and hesitated.

What does one say to this?! "Thanks." She stumbled a little over the word, and stopped, confused. "But why?"

[Captain Tohmahawk]

He winced a bit when she mentioned her ship.

"Why? Becuase.... as I said, your life is in danger and your going to need this. It's an anti Sith / jedi weapon - just think what that means where you are. And also, I guess because I owe you a toy like that"

[Arya Ravenwing]

She thought about that. "Yeah, I guess you do." What with Turbogeek living practically next door to her, and frell-knows what following after him, it would probably come in more useful that she imagined. "Might come in handy, although using it on the Black Hand members might just blow my cover." Arya winked.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

"If you used it on Black Hand memebers, the only cover you will have is the fine red mist of spayed gore. Believe me, if I used that on the gand, you would sponge the remains up"

[Arya Ravenwing]

Flash. Water covers a woman's head, leaving only a hand visible until it too is covered up by the rush of liquid. Another hand grabs hers, pulling...

Arya looked awkwardly down at the glistening weapon in her hands. Saying thank you had never been her strong point....but one had to try. "Thank you." She looked up, "For everything." Her visions came at odd times, and sometimes they didn't predict the exact future, but were always very close. She dismissed her thoughts, and stood to leave.

"I have to go...check on my ship. Frelling mechanics don't know what a hydrospanner looks like nowadays." Arya frowned. "I'll be on Trogan next, then its back to the regular holonet channel for me. A job's a job, after all." And with that she turned on her heel and walked towards the front door.

[Captain Tohmahawk]

Tohmahawk leaned back as the woman made her excuse and left. He had to admit, there was something about her. Something hard edged.

He shrugged her off as he went back to his data pad, when something clicked.

Trogan? What the hell was she going to be doing to the place the trade conference was going to be at and at the same time?

He leaned back, frowning. Something was odd here. He would have to so some quiet digging to find out who else might be interested in the Trogan conference

To be continued.......